According to The Wrestling Observer, WWE's decision to enter Bo Dallas into the Royal Rumble bumped Shelton Benjamin from making a surprise appearance in the match. Benjamin was in town working an indy show and was going to make a surprise appearance in the bout, however WWE decided to run the NXT tournament and give the spot to Bo Dallas instead.

In related news, Bo Dallas became the first Royal Rumble entrant in match history who was not born when the first Royal Rumble match took place.